As a DJ, songwriter and drummer for both Penn Jazz and his own band USSMars, this kid is all about the music. He generously took the time off from his hectic schedule to tell us a little bit more about himself.
Street: What is your DJ name? Kevin Crouch: My name is DJKEV—‘Killing Every Venue.’ I made it up myself [smiles proudly].
Street: How did you get started as a DJ? KC: To be honest, I started seriously DJ–ing last semester. I was more into song writing and drumming in high school. I have always made playlists for parties—I was always ‘the music guy.’ I still need to pick up a few tricks of the trade. I just really love choosing good songs and creating a nice flow, a nice atmosphere for the party.
Street: So you’re a songwriter and a drummer as well as being a DJ? KC: Yeah. My song writing is still maturing. I have been writing songs since sophomore year of high school but of all the songs I have written, I only think two are absolutely perfect. For me, the burden of being a songwriter is that you will always have some form of dissatisfaction with your songs. I spend a lot of time on one song so that doesn’t happen but it’s inevitable. Most of my songs are in the vein of the garage rock style. I love fuzzy guitar distortions and pulsating drum beats. Lyrically, I will usually come up with a subject and just write whatever comes to mind. To me, the most important part of the song is the music itself. Unless the lyrics are glaringly bad, I usually don’t mind what they are.
Street: Have you played any gigs on campus? KC: I DJ–ed a couple of frat parties around campus. They usually go very well. I have gotten compliments for my song choices. I like to think that my sets are a little different from other people’s sets. At frat parties, they will play a lot of hip–hop and pop music. I do include that in my set because everyone likes that stuff—it’s always nice to hear a really popular song that everyone can sing along to. As the night goes on and people are getting more and more drunk, they become a lot more open to hearing new stuff, so that’s when I break out the dub step, the trap, the glitch, electronica (I think it’s super danceable). I like to think I have my own style but I know that I still have a lot to learn—I would say that a lot of other DJs are better than me only because they’ve have more experience than I have (like with mixing) but strictly in terms of song choices I like to think that I am pretty unique.
Street: We hear that you have a very distinct taste in music? KC: Choosing songs for a DJ set can be a little difficult because I listen to a lot of weird music. One aspect that I like in my music is some form of dissonance. I like music that is very filtered, with a lot of distortions (bands like My Bloody Valentine for example). I also a really big fan of ‘filling the space’ in music with ‘noise’—I hate hints of emptiness between melody and the rhythm section. I like my music to be really full, if that makes any sense.
Street: Favorite artist? Artists that inspire you the most? KC: For my song writing, I listen to Ty Segall, a garage rock artist. He has a very DIY approach to his music: he uses cheap guitars, filtered amps, (shitty) drum sets and just makes music. I also love Thee Oh Sees, a band from San Francisco (my hometown). They release a lot of music (at least one album a year) and the lead singer (John Dwyer) releases a lot of music on his own as well. I admire the fact that they are always working, always making music and they are always good.
In terms of just listening, I am really into a band called Boris, an experimental rock band from Japan. All of their albums revolve around sludge metal (slower than regular metal and more distorted—the notes are hardy to determine). I would recommend the album "Pink": a lot of fast rock and cool solos and cool melodies. I listen to a band called Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers—a really famous drummer and his band. He is a god at keeping time and always incorporates interesting rhythms into his work. One last band I am really into is called Lightening Bolt, a noise band made up of a bassist and a drummer, Brian Chippendale, whom I really look up to. The bassist’s base is made up of three base strings and two banjo strings and he plays through a lot of pedals to make a really distorted base sound. It is very exciting. My favorite album by them, "Wonderful Rainbow," is perfect in my opinion.
Street: What about the future? Are you considering a music major? KC: I am considering a music major, but I am realistic. I know that most of the time, people with music degrees end up teaching music or becoming music theorists. I want to be a music major but I want to focus on modern music whereas I know that I lot of music majors want to focus on jazz or classical music and composition. I want to really understand and know all aspects of music and go into the music industry and try to become a producer, an engineer. I want to work on albums, to be as involved with the music making process as I can. I have toured before with my band back home and if I am ever so lucky enough to record an album and have it be even somewhat popular, that would be incredible. I don’t necessarily want to be very famous. I feel like the bands that get really big, while they can be good, can sometimes lack artistic innovation. Given the music I want to make, I can’t see myself being really famous anyway.
Street: What do you think of the fling lineup so far? KC: I am not a big fan of Tyga. I think in terms of that kind of genre of hip–hop it’s very much like ‘lets pound some forties and go nuts’. You don’t really care what he’s saying, what the beat sounds like—it’s just loud in your face. The music itself is egotistical. I sure it will be a fun show, I will have a fun time watching him but I wouldn’t normally sit down and think ‘I’ll put on this Tyga album and do some homework’. I think Janelle Monae is a fantastic artist. Her album ‘The Archandroid’ is a very important album because it is the first in this new progressive of R&B—she uses a lot of interesting song structures and has an interesting voice and incorporates a lot of interesting genres in making her music. Her music is very danceable and very interesting at the same time.
Street: What would your ideal fling lineup be? KC: Just MY fling lineup:
1. Danny Brown
2. Lightening Bolt
3. Boris!
But that would not fly with everyone… so for a realistic lineup:
1. Danny Brown
2. Big Boi (or if we are talking dreams, Outcast)
3. Justice
DJKEV's Demo playlist:
Big Boi—“Shutterbugg”
A$AP Rocky—“Goldie”
El-P—“The Full Retard”
Biggie Smalls—“Party and Bullshit”
The M Machine—“Promise Me a Rose Garden”
Flosstrodamus—“Rollup (Bauuer Remix)”
TNGHT—“Higher Ground”
Justice—“Let there Be Light”
Calvin Harris—“Feel So Close (Nero Remix)”
